The Battle
by ethyl
Summary: This is how i felt the battle between Naruto and Neji should have been. Most of it is taken straight from the manga, so there are a lot of spoilers.


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.  
  
Author's notes: This is my first fiction so i kept it simple. I feel that this how the fight between Naruto and Neji should have been like. Although, it was good that Naruto beat Neji, it wasn't as soundly and as spectacularly as i think it should have been. Most of this is taken straight from the manga, except near the end. So many spoilers. I guess the good stuff is at the end, so if you want to skip down to where Neji uses his 64 Hands of Hakke, feel free.  
  
"This is the end of the line," pondered Kamizuki Izumo out loud "Yea for guys that got this far on luck..." his friend Hagane Kotetsu interrupted him "But for that kid to get this far..."  
  
"He can't beat the Hyuga clan," Izumo decided with finality.  
  
"That Naruto's opponent is just too tough," his friend agreed.   
  
Inuzaka Kiba, on the other hand, was of a different opinion, "You'll pay if you underestimate him..."  
  
Down in the arena, Hyuga Neji was sporting a smug expression on his face, and why shouldn't he? He was about to face the ninja who placed the lowest in the Academy. "Looks like you have something to say," he said smirking at his opponent.  
  
"I told you before," replied Naruto while holding his extended fist towards the Hyuga kid in front of him "You're definately going down."  
  
Activating his Byakugang, Neji examined the loud and obnoxious ninja in front of him. "Eyes of a person who totally believes in himself, there's no doubt in him," he thought to himself. Aloud, he said with another smug grin "It will be fun to watch you fall apart when you discover reality."  
  
"Stop all the blabbering! Let's fight!" said Naruto in his loud and excited voice.  
  
Above in the stands, Hyuga Hiashi was with his daughter Hanabi closely watching the exchange. He decided to use this fight as an opportunity to educate the hope of the Hyuga clan even further, "There isn't another who has received such thick Hyugra blood, watch closely Hanabi," ordered Hiashi. "Yes, father," replied his daughter with obediance.  
  
"So I'll have to fight from a distance," decided the blonde ninja. With his plan of action decided, he executed his favorite jutsu with a practiced familiarity. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he yelled as four clones appeared in front him. With perfect coordination, each of the clones whipped out a kunai and held it in a readied stance.  
  
The reactions to a Genin's execution of a Jounin level jutsu were mixed.  
  
"Good thinking Naruto," thought Harano Sakura.  
  
"Heh, interesting guy," noted Kotetsu.  
  
"Kage Bunshin is a Jounin level jutsu," announced Izumo, "For him to be able to use it..."  
  
"This fight could be good," finished Kotetsu.  
  
"Kage Bunshin?!" wondered Neji. This fight might be a little tougher than he had first expected. Know your enemies, Neji reminded him self as he examined the clones with his Byakugang. It was clear enough that Naruto's chakra was divided equally among the clones, and he even recognized that he couldn't tell which body was the real one, "But, in the end, there's only one true body," he said half to himself, half to his opponent.  
  
"Heh, stop acting tough," smirked one of the Narutos.  
  
That Neji kid is really pissing me off, Naruto thought to himself. He was lucky that he wasn't angered to the point where the demon fox Kyubi had started to murmur his bittersweet promises of power and revenge to him yet. For right now, Naruto had himself under control, however even he knew his chances were slim to none against this genius Hyuga. The Gentle Fist taijutsu style scared Naruto more than he would have liked to admit. He had seen how devastating it was to Hinata.  
  
Hinata...  
  
The one person who seemed to actually care about him, and that bastard in front of him had tried to kill her. His rage was only increasing, he needed to keep a cool head if he were to win this fight.  
  
"If you're gonna come, then come," announced Neji in open defiance.  
  
"Hey-" started on clone  
  
"Stop"  
  
"Disrespecting"  
  
"Me"  
  
With that said, the four Narutos launched themselves at Neji in a perfectly coordinated attack pattern. It was easy enough for Neji to get rid of the first two clones, but the remaining two had slipped behind him and were coming up to attack. Unfortunately, Naruto was not aware of the powers of the Byakugang. Without even turning his head, Neji blocked both of the clones's outstretched arms sent them flying back towards the original Naruto.  
  
"This guy, does he have eyes on the back of his head?" wondered Naruto, incredulously.  
  
The white-eyed Genin smirked at Naruto, "Become Hokage, eh. It's impossible with that. I can figure it out with these eyes."  
  
The rest of his drivel was lost on Naruto. Something about his demeanor annoyed the fox ninja to no end. His fury was really rising and it was soon that Kyubi was going to start infecting his thoughts. "You always automatically decide things like that?!" hollered Naruto in disgust. He needed to stall in order to think of a plan to beat his opponent. However, he didn't want to simply beat Neji, he wanted to shatter Neji's confidence in himself so much he would never hurt anybody like he hurt Hinata again. But to accomplish this seemingly impossible feat, he would have to most likely give in to his rage, a prospect that did not appeal to him. Yet there was a positive aspect to this solution. From his previous experiences, using the Nine-tail's strength for himself always seemed to attract attention to him, something he was desperate for.  
  
"Then, you are saying anyone can become Hokage through hard work? Only a handful of shinobi are chosen as Hokage," said Neji in his holier-than-thou tone. "Look closer at reality!" he continued, "People must live within their own unchangable flow. The only destiny that every person shares is death."  
  
Hiashi recognized the look in his nephew. "He still has a grudge against the main family," he thought to himself. Hiashi sighed the saddest sigh he had ever felt since his brother died instead of him. It was not going to be easy to reconcile everything between himself and Neji.  
  
Naruto was unphased. "So what!" he yelled back at the dark-haired ninja, "I'm not good at giving up!" and suddenly thirty or more shadow clones appeared in front of him again.  
  
What does that kid have in mind, wondered Neji. "I'm not stupid. I already see through your attack pattern," he said with the same confidence, but an ounce of annoyance was creeping through his voice.  
  
"Bah! I told you to stop automatically deciding things!" replied one of the Narutos.  
  
Meanwhile, Naruto's actions were starting to worry his fellow rookies. "If he creates that many clones he'll run out of chakra, that idiot," said Sakura to nobody in particular.  
  
"YAHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed the clones in unison.  
  
Despite being overwhelmed with several angry Narutos, Neji did not even flinch. It did not even require any concentration to avoid the attacks. Instead, he concentrated on finding the real body. I told you i'm not stupid, thought Neji, the true body is...I know where it is! Racing towards the suspected Naruto so fast he was only a blur, Neji struct his foremost fingers into Naruto's solar plexus, expelling some chakra into his Inner Coils system. Fearing having your points pressed, one body is doing the least amount of attacking. The more you attack the clearer it becomes./i "You're the real one," said Neji with a definate finality in his voice.  
  
The spectators nodded to themselves in acknowledgment of what just happened, all except Hinata who was extremely afraid of what was about to happen.   
  
"Naruto-kun," gasped Hinata in exclamation. Next to her, Kotetsu simply announced, "It's over."  
  
"That's why I told you it was useless," continued Neji. But at that moment, the most unexpected event happened which Neji was completely unprepared for.  
  
Naruto chuckled and said in a weak voice, "That's why I told you to stop automatically deciding things."  
  
Neji was not the only person to gasp as Naruto finished his sentance. At that moment, Naruto faded into a puff of smoke and two other shadow clones lept at the Hyuga Branch member from behind.  
  
"No way!" thought Neji as his mind boggled. "Anticipating what I was thinking, and purposely having a clone stand out."  
  
The Chuunin Ketatso was definately impressed, and Hinata let out a huge sigh of relief.  
  
"Alright! I've shaken his confidence a little, time to kick his sorry ass!  
  
The two clones were closing in fast, not even Neji could dodge their attack. The crowd was on their feet as it appeared that the unexpected was about to take place. Naruto was already harboring victory thoughts as his punch was mere inches from Neji's face. The only problem was, it never touched his face.  
  
At that moment, Neji was had expelled some chakra from all of his opening points, thus effectively blocking Naruto's punch. Using even more Chakra, Neji spun around rapidly several times, pushing his attackers away.  
  
The crowd gasped again, even more surprised at the surprising move the Hyuga kid pulled off.  
  
"Ughhh, what was that?" wondered Naruto as pain crept through his body.  
  
"Naruto's punch should have connected!" said Sakura with disbelief.  
  
Hiashi was in awe at his nephew, "How can it be, that was Kaiten the Heavenly Spin!"  
  
"Father, that's your..." started Hanabi. "Kaiten is the Hyuga main Family's...Basically it's a special technique only passed down to the heirs of the Hyuga House," interrupted Hiashi. "To master it on his own, what a guy. To be this good."  
  
"Damn," said Naruto. "I was so close too!"  
  
"It's over. You are within the field of my hakke," stated Neji.  
  
"Damn, this can't be good," thought Naruto as he watched Neji assume an odd stance. In the stands, Hiashi's disbelief and awe towards his brother's son grew even further.  
  
"That stance, it can't be..." thought the Head of the Hyuga clan.  
  
"Gentle Fist Style, Sixty-Four Hands of Hakke!"  
  
"Shit, this is gonna hurt," thought Naruto.  
  
Naruto was too beat up from his previous attack to be able to dodge the incoming attack, no matter how obvious it was. The first few pressure points that were hit did not hurt so much, but the others made him want to scream out in pain. But he did not even utter a sound, except for a grunt, as his opponent's last palm strike knocked him to the ground.  
  
The other Leaf rookies looked upon the arena in shock. This could not be it, they all thought together. Yet, they all knew how devastating the Gentle Fist style was. It was obvious that Naruto was not going to be able to stand up anymore.  
  
"I have hit sixty-four points on your body, you can no longer stand," Neji said simply. "Heh, is it painful? Stay on your knees before a power you cannot change and realize your worthlessness."  
  
That was it. Naruto finally snapped and his rage became uncontrollable. Nothing Neji said no longer mattered to him. All that was important was to stand up. That's all he had to do, to stand up! He remembered how Hinata had stood up even after taking several hits from her cousin, and how even that thick-browed freak Rock Lee stood up even though Gaara had nearly killed him.  
  
"Come on boy, get up!" growled an inner voice inside of him. "So it has started," Naruto thought to himself, "Hehe, Kyubi, i might need your help just yet."  
  
In the crowd, it seemed that the Hyuga prodigy had won, but still the examiner had not announced the winner, and for a good reason too: Naruto was standing up again. What a kid, they all thought. To withstand the devastating Hyuga technique and still be able to stand up. Everbody grudgingly admitted that this seemingly good for nothing Genin had shattered all expectations.  
  
Naruto couldn't help but chuckle as he saw the look of surprise on his opponents face. "Hehe, i told , I'm not god at giving up," he said with the slyest grin he could manage.  
  
"This guy, impossible," Neji thought in denial. Aloud, "Quit already, continuing won't change anything. I have no grudge against you."  
  
"That bastard, there he goes again about destiny," muttered Naruto to himself. "S...Shutup! Well, I do!" he yelled back in reply.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Why, why if you're this strong. Why, with those eyes that can see everything, did you mentally attack Hinata who was trying so hard?  
  
"That is none of your business."  
  
"Insulting Hinata, automatically deciding she's a loser - main family, branch family I don't know what the hell happened. But pieces of shit like you who call other people losers, I will never forgive!"  
  
"All right, fine. If you're gonna go that far, then i'll tell you the Hyuga's destiny of hatred."  
  
Most of what Neji talked about didn't even hold Naruto's attention. He hardly cared about whatever angst his opponent was feeling towards his family. That was his business. All he cared about was figuring out a way to kick his ass. That's all that mattered to him, all he needed to think about.  
  
"Your destiny is to lose to me, there's no doubt," repeated Neji.  
  
"We won't know until its over," panted Naruto, "I don't know how much it hurt that your dad was killed a long time ago, but thinking that destiny is all decided because of that is a huge mistake."  
  
"You're hopeless," replied Neji as he finished putting his forehead protector back on. With that said , he rushed towards Naruto and again used his devastating Gentle Fist style on the battered blonde ninja.  
  
"Examiner, it's over." said the white eyed ninja.  
  
"Ahhh, god damnit. This thing hurts," thought Naruto as he clutched his stomach.  
  
"Grrrr, get UP boy!" growled the inner voice inside of him once again, "there's no way you can lose to such a pathetic...HUMAN!"  
  
"Even the demon inside me is getting restless."  
  
"Damn loser," muttered Neji.  
  
"D...Don't run away. I won't run. I don't go back on my word," coughed Naruto, still in obvious pain.  
  
"Heh, i've heard that before."  
  
"There's no way i'll lose to a coward who's always whining about destiny."  
  
"An ignorant brat like you shouldn't be lecturing," replied Neji, and then with even more conviction, "You could never understand what it's like to be burdened with a symbol you could never rid yourself of!!"  
  
That last statement almost made Naruto break down laughing, if it were not for the pain, he just might have done it. Instead, he simply snickered in his voice which seemed to irk Neji the most and said, "Hehehe, yeah i can. And so what? Stop acting cool you god damn angsty brat. You're not the only one who bears a symbol he can't get rid of." Naruto almost considered showing Neji the seal on his belly-button, but realized that would be a silly mistake. Instead, he remembered how Neji had mentally attacked Hinata a month ago and quivered in anger. "Hinata too she's suffered as much as you! A member of the main family, but not acknowledged, trying her best to change herself, thinking that as she was coughing blood while fighting you. You're the same! The Branch Family is supposed to protect the Main Family, yet doing that to Hinata...In truth, you are trying your hardest to disobey destiny!"  
  
"Pff, i don't need to get angry over this loser, i've pretty much already won," Neji reassured himself.  
  
"Heh, Your sixty-four opening points are closed. You won't be able to use chakra for a while, how can you fight? In the end, you and Hinata-sama share the same destiny."  
  
"Shut up!! Stop using that Byakugan to decide and act like you know everyone's destiny!!" Neji's confidence in his special ability was definately pushing Naruto's limits.  
  
"Then prove to me that what you are saying is correct."  
  
"I'm definately going to defeat you, you bastard, and prove that i'm correct!" "Damn it! But i can't fee any chakra. Feels like when I used it all up during the training!"  
  
It took a while for the bell to ring in Naruto's head after what he had just thought. After making the simple comparison between his current situation and his previous training with Jiraiya-sensei it took Naruto a few seconds to fully understand what that meant.  
  
"Stupid fox, lend me your power!" ordered Naruto.  
  
"Hehe, you shall get that and much more, little one," said the growling inner voice.  
  
"Can I ask you just one thing?" asked Neji, "Why do you go against your destiny so much?"  
  
"Because," Naruto answered dramatically, "I was called a loser!"  
  
This answer only served to widen the smirk on the long-haired Genin's face, but the next thing that was said shocked him.  
  
"Now...is when i prove the worthlessness of the Hyuga Branch Family!" yelled out Naruto, and without waiting he embraced the full power offered to him by the Nine-tails demon sealed inside of him. The yell that the blonde ninja was releasing sounded more like a howl, but nobody was paying attention to this minute detail. As a matter of fact, nobody even payed attention at how Naruto's body had changed a bit: his pupils narrowed down to slits, his nails lengthened and sharpened, and his mouth widened every so slightly.  
  
"Impossible..." was pretty much the thought of everybody that was witnessing the events unfolding before them.  
  
"Chakra is flowing out, what's going on? Did I mess up my technique? No, impossible. I practiced it too much. Yet...there it is, flowing out of all of his opening points."  
  
The fear was plain on Neji's face, as much as the disbelief. Even Hyuga Hiashi was shaking in disbelief. The thought that somebody had defeated one of their ultimate techniques was unthinkable. He would have to deal with this Naruto to make sure the secret never got out.  
  
Meanwhile, the other Leaf Genin and Chuunin were having a hard time believing what they saw. Not only that, but the chakra that this once dead-last ninja was radiating was more than any Jounin they had met, except for maybe Hokage-sama.  
  
In the arena, Naruto inwardly grinned at the effect of what just happened. This was going to be fun. He was going to enjoy beating up Neji for what he did to himself and Hinata.  
  
"Here I come!" he yelled out in partial warning to his opponent, and suddenly whipped out a few shurikens and threw them with such speed that there was no way Neji could have dodged it.  
  
"Such speed," thought Neji in horror, "I'm going to have to use Kaiten again."  
  
Despite being shocked at what he had just witnessed, Neji definately did not let it affect his fighting. With careful minutia, he expelled just the right amount of chakra, but instead of completely spinning to knock away the shurikens, he spun halfway and grabbed the shurikens in his hands and threw them right back at Naruto. He was not surprised to see Naruto dodge them with ease for his speed dramatically increased as well. Instead, he used the opportunity to rush his opponent so he could finally end this fight.  
  
As he approached the fox-looking ninja, he saw him grinning. "Baka," he thought as he launched his open palm at Naruto's heart, ready to flow his deadly chakra.   
  
What he saw shocked him even more than before.   
  
Naruto was grinning because right after he saw Neji begin to thrust his palm forward, he had expelled some chakra from all of this opening points thus completely stopping his opponent's attack. The look of horror on the Hyuga's face was almost enough to make Naruto chuckle, but instead he completed the technique and spun around rapidly making Neji fly off a few feet.  
  
This time, every single member of the crowd gasped audibly, except for Hyuga Hiashi who simply stared with his mouth open. "Father?" began Hanabi, but she knew better than to continue. The fact that a non-Hyuga member was able to use their secret techniques was unheard of.  
  
But it did not stop there.  
  
"Hey loser," called out Naruto to his opponent who had just gotten himself up, "In case you forgot what I said a month ago, don't use a technique more than once, or it'll be used against you."  
  
If seeing somebody else besides a Hyuga use their special technique had not yet shaken Neji to the point of complete fear, seeing Naruto assume a stance he had only a few minutes ago shown to the blonde ninja made him outright fear for his life.  
  
"Gentle Fist Style, Sixty-Four Hands of Hakke!" yelled out Naruto with an evil snicker on his face.  
  
There was no gasp from the crowd this time as Naruto preceded to repeat the same Taijutsu on Neji as it had been executed on him before that. There was no other option available. Everybody who was watching could only agree that Naruto was far beyond the level of a Genin at that moment, definately Chuunin level, and some even wondered if he could be on the Jounin Level. The ability to copy Taijutsu techniques, something even a Sharingan user could not do, was a powerful ability indeed.  
  
After finishing his Sixty-Four Hands of Hakke, he did not just stop there. Rather, four shadow clones appeared next to him. It was only fitting for him to finally defeat his opponent with an original technique.  
  
"Naruto Rendan!" yelled out the clones in unison, except this was not the Naruto Rendan he had displayed at the preliminaries. Each hit was increased by the concentration of chakra into whatever body part. It wasn't the Gentle Fist style, but it served to increase the damage, and especially to hurt Neji even more. Indeed, the last kick of the combo knocked the Hyuga member half-way across the arena.   
  
Naruto knew he had won, so he walked over to where Neji was lying down, shaking in pain and said to him, "So, I was supposed to lose huh? Next time before you go deciding what happens, remember what happened on this day, and realize you are not all knowing, even with your Byakugan."  
  
In the crowd, it was tough to realize what just happened. The genius Hyuga Genin had been defeated by that loser Naruto, and with his own techniques used against him no less! For Naruto, it was not defeating Neji that made him happy, but rather the fact that he fought in defense of a precious person, Hinata.  
  
He did not even notice the whole stadium was cheering for him, but when he did he immediately reverted back to his old self, flashing that fox-like grin and blowing kisses. He even had the energy to run a victory lap around the arena. "Geez," thougt the examiner, Gemma, "What a stamina freak, he even has the energy to run around."  
  
Although to the village who still grudgingly saw him as the harborer of the Nine-tails, to his peers he was no longer THAT Naruto. 


End file.
